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Foreclosure Defense

You may have significant defenses, that you are not even aware of, that may stop or prevent the foreclosure of your home. Why do nothing and let your home be foreclosed?

How will using your rights help you?

There are law firms across the United States that only handle mortgage foreclosure cases. Because of the way these law firms handle cases, they are commonly referred to as “foreclosure mills”.

Did you know these foreclosure mills are graded? Yes! Just like school, large mortgage bankers assign grades to foreclosure mills based on how fast they can foreclose mortgages. An “A” is fast and an “E” is slow. The higher the grade the foreclosure mill gets, the more cases it will receive from the mortgage bankers. Because of this grading system, these foreclosure mills push foreclosures cases through the legal system as fast as possible, often times violating Florida law and the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.

It is now common to hear about these foreclosure mills being investigated for violations of the law. On some occasions mortgage bankers have to suspend all foreclosure cases because of these violations.

What makes matters worse is that the majority of all mortgage foreclosure cases go uncontested. Because of this, the cases usually go through the legal system very fast and the Courts do not have the resources to ensure all laws were followed.

With The Thorpe Law Firm, P.A., appearing in the case to protect your rights, the case may slow down and put the mortgage banker and foreclosure mill in a position where it will need to comply with all legal procedures, and show the Court it complied with the law. Also, this may give us the opportunity to force the lender to produce all documents in its possession that may assist in your defense. If a discrepancy is found, we may be in a much better position to negotiate a FAIR settlement with your lender.

The Thorpe Law Firm’s goal is to save your home, whether by defending your case to trial, obtaining a fair loan modification, or assisting you with bankruptcy.

What is the truth about lost promissory notes.

Have you ever lost anything? Most people have and corporations are full of people. On occasion a corporation will lose a promissory note. In anticipation of a promissory note being lost, the drafters of the Uniform Commercial Code, which was adopted by the State of Florida, included Section 673.3091, Florida Statutes, which allows a person not in possession of the promissory note to enforce it if they are otherwise entitled to enforce it. In other words, a lender can enforce a promissory note that has been lost as long as it can prove it owns or holds the note. Based on this it is not an accurate statement to say a person cannot be foreclosed because the promissory was lost. But, to be foreclosed the lender must prove it was the owner or holder of the lost promissory note when the mortgage foreclosure suit was filed. Also, “[a] plaintiff may prove that it has standing to foreclose 'through evidence of a valid assignment, proof of purchase of the debt, or evidence of an effective transfer.'" Stone v. BankUnited, 115 So. 3d 411, 413 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013) (quoting BAC Funding Consortium Inc. ISAOA/ATIMA v. Jean-Jacques, 28 So.3d 936, 939 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)). This raises the issue of the use of assignments to prove ownership of the promissory note.

YOUR LENDER HAS AN ATTORNEY. YOU SHOULD HAVE AN ATTORNEY.

Mr. Thorpe was formerly the lead trial attorney for one of the largest mortgage foreclosure firms in the State of Florida. In that capacity, he represented mortgage bankers in hundreds of contested mortgage foreclosure actions. As such, he is very familiar with this area of the law and leads The Thorpe Law Firm, P.A., as it assists people in situations such as yours. The proper exercise of your rights may result in a substantial delay or even prevent the foreclosure of your home.

OUR GOAL IS TO SAVE YOUR HOME BY:

Appearing in the case to protect your legal rights. We will review your case and assert all of the affirmative defenses to which you are entitled.

Reviewing your loan closing documents to determine if there was a violation of federal law.